2020-21 NBA awards picks: Nikola Jokic unanimous MVP; experts don't agree on Rookie of the Year, DPOY winners

Also, Julius Randle is hands down the Most Improved Player in our experts' eyes

After the Los Angeles Lakers' 2020-21 regular-season finale on Sunday, LeBron James stated that Stephen Curry, in his opinion, should be this season's MVP. Curry has a case. I voted him third. But he's not going to win. That trophy already has Nikola Jokic's name engraved. Or it should, at least.

Jokic was masterful this season, and as you'll see below, every one of our writers picked him as the MVP. Another unanimous selection was Julius Randle for Most Improved Player. It's hard to make a case for anyone else, honestly. What Randle has done as a shooter this season, he's an entirely different player.

To me, the Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year races are the most interesting. For ROY, it's either LaMelo Ball or Anthony Edwards, the latter of whom received just one first-place vote among our panelists.

Ball was the clear winner until a broken wrist cost him almost six weeks of action. During that time, Edwards took off. He was a flat-out scoring star post-All-Star break. I think a lot of people thought they had their minds made up, but Edwards made this interesting.

As for DPOY, Rudy Gobert, who got all but two of our staff's first-place votes, and Ben Simmons represent a debate of preferences. Do you value rim protection or versatility? I've spoken with scouts about this topic, and most come back with rim protection as the more valued defensive offering for the simple reason that one rim protector, like Gobert, can anchor an entire defense, while even the best perimeter defenders need wingmen who can unlock the switching schemes that dominate today's game. 

With that, below are our CBS Sports staff's top five picks for MVP and top three picks for Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year. 

Most Valuable Player

	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth
Bill Reiter	Nikola Jokic DEN C	Joel Embiid PHI C	Giannis Antetokounmpo MIL PF	Stephen Curry GS PG	Chris Paul PHO PG
Brad Botkin	Nikola Jokic DEN C	Joel Embiid PHI C	Stephen Curry GS PG	Giannis Antetokounmpo MIL PF	Luka Doncic DAL PG
James Herbert	Nikola Jokic DEN C	Stephen Curry GS PG	Giannis Antetokounmpo MIL PF	Joel Embiid PHI C	Luka Doncic DAL PG
Sam Quinn	Nikola Jokic DEN C	Joel Embiid PHI C	Stephen Curry GS PG	Giannis Antetokounmpo MIL PF	Chris Paul PHO PG
Colin Ward-Henninger	Nikola Jokic DEN C	Joel Embiid PHI C	Giannis Antetokounmpo MIL PF	Stephen Curry GS PG	Chris Paul PHO PG
Jasmyn Wimbish	Nikola Jokic DEN C	Joel Embiid PHI C	Giannis Antetokounmpo MIL PF	Stephen Curry GS PG	Luka Doncic DAL PG
Michael Kaskey-Blomain	Nikola Jokic DEN C	Joel Embiid PHI C	Giannis Antetokounmpo MIL PF	Stephen Curry GS PG	Chris Paul PHO PG
Jack Maloney	Nikola Jokic DEN C	Joel Embiid PHI C	Giannis Antetokounmpo MIL PF	Stephen Curry GS PG	Chris Paul PHO PG

Rookie of the Year

	First	Second	Third
Bill Reiter	LaMelo Ball CHA PG	Anthony Edwards MIN SF	Tyrese Haliburton SAC PG
Brad Botkin	LaMelo Ball CHA PG	Anthony Edwards MIN SF	Tyrese Haliburton SAC PG
James Herbert	LaMelo Ball CHA PG	Tyrese Haliburton SAC PG	Anthony Edwards MIN SF
Sam Quinn	LaMelo Ball CHA PG	Anthony Edwards MIN SF	Tyrese Haliburton SAC PG
Colin Ward-Henninger	LaMelo Ball CHA PG	Tyrese Haliburton SAC PG	Anthony Edwards MIN SF
Jasmyn Wimbish	LaMelo Ball CHA PG	Anthony Edwards MIN SF	Tyrese Haliburton SAC PG
Michael Kaskey-Blomain	Anthony Edwards MIN SF	LaMelo Ball CHA PG	Tyrese Haliburton SAC PG
Jack Maloney	LaMelo Ball CHA PG	Anthony Edwards MIN SF	Tyrese Haliburton SAC PG

Defensive Player of the Year  

	First	Second	Third
Bill Reiter	Rudy Gobert UTA C	Ben Simmons PHI PG	Draymond Green GS PF
Brad Botkin	Rudy Gobert UTA C	Draymond Green GS PF	Ben Simmons PHI PG
James Herbert	Rudy Gobert UTA C	Draymond Green GS PF	Ben Simmons PHI PG
Sam Quinn	Rudy Gobert UTA C	Ben Simmons PHI PG	Draymond Green GS PF
Colin Ward-Henninger	Rudy Gobert UTA C	Ben Simmons PHI PG	Joel Embiid PHI C
Jasmyn Wimbish	Rudy Gobert UTA C	Ben Simmons PHI PG	Draymond Green GS PF
Michael Kaskey-Blomain	Ben Simmons PHI PG	Rudy Gobert UTA C	Giannis Antetokounmpo MIL PF
Jack Maloney	Ben Simmons PHI PG	Rudy Gobert UTA C	Jrue Holiday MIL PG

Sixth Man of the Year  

	First	Second	Third
Bill Reiter	Joe Ingles UTA SG	Jordan Clarkson UTA PG	Jalen Brunson DAL PG
Brad Botkin	Joe Ingles UTA SG	Derrick Rose NY PG	Jordan Clarkson UTA PG
James Herbert	Joe Ingles UTA SG	Thaddeus Young CHI PF	Miles Bridges CHA SF
Sam Quinn	Joe Ingles UTA SG	Derrick Rose NY PG	Jordan Clarkson UTA PG
Colin Ward-Henninger	Jordan Clarkson UTA PG	Joe Ingles UTA SG	Jalen Brunson DAL PG
Jasmyn Wimbish	Joe Ingles UTA SG	Jordan Clarkson UTA PG	Tim Hardaway Jr. DAL SF
Michael Kaskey-Blomain	Jordan Clarkson UTA PG	Dario Saric PHO PF	Derrick Rose NY PG
Jack Maloney	Jordan Clarkson UTA PG	Joe Ingles UTA SG	Jalen Brunson DAL PG

Most Improved Player  

	First	Second	Third
Bill Reiter	Julius Randle NY PF	Michael Porter Jr. DEN SF	Mikal Bridges PHO SF
Brad Botkin	Julius Randle NY PF	Andrew Wiggins GS SF	Mikal Bridges PHO SF
James Herbert	Julius Randle NY PF	Jaylen Brown BOS SG	Nikola Jokic DEN C
Sam Quinn	Julius Randle NY PF	Michael Porter Jr. DEN SF	Mikal Bridges PHO SF
Colin Ward-Henninger	Julius Randle NY PF	Mikal Bridges PHO SF	Jerami Grant DET SF
Jasmyn Wimbish	Julius Randle NY PF	Mikal Bridges PHO SF	Jerami Grant DET SF
Michael Kaskey-Blomain	Julius Randle NY PF	Christian Wood HOU C	Michael Porter Jr. DEN SF
Jack Maloney	Julius Randle NY PF	Jaylen Brown BOS SG	Jerami Grant DET SF

Coach of the Year

	First	Second	Third
Bill Reiter	Tom Thibodeau (NY)	Monty Williams (PHO)	Nate McMillan (ATL)
Brad Botkin	Tom Thibodeau (NY)	Monty Williams (PHO)	Quin Snyder (UTA)
James Herbert	Tom Thibodeau (NY)	Quin Snyder (UTA)	Monty Williams (PHO)
Sam Quinn	Tom Thibodeau (NY)	Steve Nash (BKN)	Mike Malone (DEN)
Colin Ward-Henninger	Quin Snyder (UTA)	Tom Thibodeau (NY)	Monty Williams (PHO)
Jasmyn Wimbish	Monty Williams (PHO)	Tom Thibodeau (NY)	Quin Snyder (UTA)
Michael Kaskey-Blomain	Monty Williams (PHO)	Tom Thibodeau (NY)	Doc Rivers (PHI)
Jack Maloney	Monty Williams (PHO)	Tom Thibodeau (NY)	Doc Rivers (PHI)

Executive of the Year

	First	Second	Third
Bill Reiter	Daryl Morey (PHI)	James Jones (PHO)	Travis Schlenk (ATL)
Brad Botkin	James Jones (PHO)	Travis Schlenk (ATL)	Daryl Morey (PHI)
James Herbert	Sean Marks (BKN)	Daryl Morey (PHI)	James Jones (PHO)
Sam Quinn	Sam Presti (OKC)	Daryl Morey (PHI)	Sean Marks (BKN)
Colin-Ward Henninger	Sean Marks (BKN)	Daryl Morey (PHI)	James Jones (PHO)
Jasmyn Wimbish	James Jones (PHO)	Daryl Morey (PHI)	Sean Marks (BKN)
Michael Kaskey-Blomain	Sean Marks (BKN)	Daryl Morey (PHI)	James Jones (PHO)
Jack Maloney	Sean Marks (BKN)	Daryl Morey (PHI)	James Jones (PHO)